Thank You For This Gift
by Janiqua
Summary: Right after The Courtship of Wyatt's Father ends. Piper comes to terms with the knowledge that Chris is her son.


Ever since I first saw The Courtship of Wyatt's Father, I have been disappointed with the ending. If this kind of story has been done before, I swear I'm not trying to steal anyone else's idea, but I just had to create something that would actually give that episode a better conclusion. Please read and tell me what you think!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

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"What am I gonna do?"

Dusk was approaching outside, but for Piper, her day was not beginning to fade. In fact, it felt like her day was starting all over again, with her panicking emotions rising higher than the sun at noon.

"Maybe you should talk to Leo about it," Phoebe suggested, trying to sound at least slightly helpful.

"No, I can't," Piper stared at her sister as if she were out of her mind.

"Why?" Phoebe asked, frowning.

"Well, because, because," Piper stammered, trying to take this all in without completely losing it. "Because I can't."

There was a single knock, and then: "Is this a bad time?"

Piper swirled around in her seat and saw the boy in question standing in the dining room's threshold. At that moment, he looked smaller than he generally did, and just seemed entirely out of character. Timid. Nervous – no, terrified. And slightly sad, too. Piper could only stare at this stranger, for she certainly didn't recognize him as the stubborn, fierce, and often angry half Whitelighter who had been interfering in her life far too often in the past year. For once, she was speechless.

Chris glanced nervously at Phoebe, who looked back at him blankly. For until Piper gave some sort of response to all this, the Empath wouldn't even know how to begin supporting her nephew. For the moment, all they could do was wait until Piper got her voice back.

Piper slowly rose to her feet, backing away far enough to be able to look at Chris and her sisters all at once. But she focused on Chris. "My sisters just told me something... Is it true?"

Chris hesitated, and glanced uncertainly at Phoebe. When she nodded, he turned back towards Piper, looking completely miserable. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" Piper asked, her voice pitched higher than before. "Yeah what?" It continued increasing as she continued to speak, her panic beginning to break through. "A plain simple 'yeah' isn't gonna cut it Chris, I have to hear you tell me the truth this time, 'cause otherwise I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to believe it. Yeah, _what?_"

Chris's expression was melting into even deeper dread, and he continuously glanced speedily from Piper to Phoebe and back again. It was painfully obvious to the Empath that this confrontation was just as overwhelming to the boy as it was to his mother. "I..."

Impatient, Piper took several large steps towards the boy. "Tell me, Chris. Who am I?"

"You..." he stared at her unhappily. He had been keeping this a secret since he had come from the future, and he was discovering that telling your mother that you're her son is a _lot_ more difficult than telling your aunts.

"_Who am I?_" Piper shouted, emotion welling up inside her as her throat constricted painfully.

"You're my mother!" Chris finally told her with an increased volume as well. Piper took a step backwards, staring at Chris speechless again, as if she had half expected him to deny it. She certainly had been _hoping_ he would deny it. If he had, things would have been a lot easier. But then, denial never did make anything easier. It just seemed to.

"I'm more than that," Piper observed, her voice suddenly timid. "I'm Wyatt's mother, too."

Wyatt. Piper never stopped thinking about her firstborn. Both Phoebe and Paige could see the hurt in Chris's eyes as Piper's expression suddenly turned fierce.

"So that's my destiny then," she spat out bitterly. "I raise one son who grows up to terrorize people, and I raise another son who hates his life so much he feels the need to change the past through lies and manipulation."

Phoebe took a single step towards her older sister. "Piper-"

The eldest witch spun around to glare at Phoebe. "How long have you known about this?"

Phoebe stopped short, realizing that Piper very well might turn all this around to make the Empath appear guilty. But then, on one level, she was guilty of at least hiding something so important as this from both her sisters and Leo. She glanced down. "Since my vision quest."

Piper opened her mouth, but forced herself to hold her anger in – at least for now. She turned towards Paige. "And you?"

Paige shrugged. "Since Phoebe turned into a genie."

"Why the _hell_ was I the last to know?" Piper demanded furiously. "The mom's supposed to be the _first_ one to know, or at least she was the last time I checked!"

"Oh come on, Piper, you are not the last one to know," Paige shot back. "Leo doesn't know. Hell, the Elders don't even know!"

"Get out!" Piper ordered angrily. "All of you!" She spun around, looking from Paige to Chris to Phoebe. "Wyatt's upstairs in his crib. Someone get him, and then get out!"

Chris was gone immediately. Phoebe could almost share the turmoil he felt, and it made her feel lightheaded. Paige was out of the room and heading up the stairs to find her nephew. Phoebe, however, lingered a moment.

"Piper, I can't even begin to imagine what you must be thinking," she started, but Piper had had it.

"Phoebe!" she said coldly. "I still haven't quite sorted through the last crisis we dealt with. I can't handle this one right now, so just get out!"

"The only crisis we're dealing with right now is an identity one, Piper," Phoebe tried reasoning. "The fact is you and Leo shared something together last night and now-"

"We didn't _share_ anything, Phoebe!" Piper shot back. "What happened last night was never meant to happen! Leo and I are not a couple! Whatever is growing inside of me is nothing more than a huge magical mistake!"

"You're talking about Chris," Phoebe gently reminded her.

"I heard you," Piper assured her. "It doesn't make a difference who I'm talking about."

"Yes it does," Phoebe argued.

"Then it doesn't help matters!" Piper shouted. "Because just thinking about Chris forming inside my womb _disgusts_ me!"

"Why the hell should it?" Phoebe demanded. "Don't you remember what _I_ conceived two years ago? That's what's disgusting, not Chris. He's a good kid."

"Just get out!" Piper shouted angrily.

"Fine!" Phoebe shouted back. "Someone has to find Chris! And if you won't do it, then it might as well be me." She hastened out of the room, and Piper could hear the front door slam. A moment later Paige was in the threshold holding Wyatt.

"I'm just gonna take him over to Darryl's, okay?"

"Fine," Piper snapped. Paige hesitated a moment, then nodded, turned and left. For the first time, Piper found herself alone.

Silence reigned in the house with only Piper's frustrated pacing to keep it from completely enveloping the Manor. Pieces of the day before came flying to her mind as she tried sorting through the emotions that were eating her on the inside.

"_They're not here, I'm telling you."_

"_They have to be here... What are you talking about? What world?"_

"_Ever since we met, it's been one ordeal after the other."_

"_No, what are you doing?"_

"_I'm trying to save you."_

"_In time?"_

"_Look, Piper, no matter what happens..."_

"_No."_

"_You have to keep trying to make contact."_

"_I don't wanna hear it."_

"_He's not after you, he's after me."_

"_Would you please stop trying to save me?"_

"_I'm sorry I got you into this."_

"_Yeah, just one ordeal after another, right?"_

"_I never stopped loving you."_

Piper was still reeling from that whole "ordeal". She wasn't ready for another one. Not in the form of a Chris Halliwell. Not a Chris Perry, but a Halliwell! It was too much at once!

Memories came flying to her. Thoughts of Chris. How he had been lying to her every step of the way.

"_I'm a witch too? That's right. Part witch, part Whitelighter. Just like you, Paige."_

"_You lied to us?"_

"_I had to. It was the only way I could get you to trust me."_

"_Trust you?"_

"_The evil from the future I came back to stop isn't a demon. It's Wyatt."_

"_You're lying."_

"_He thinks I'm a threat."_

"_Yeah? So do I."_

"_Let me help."_

"_Chris, we don't need your help. I will get my son back, and when I do, I don't wanna see you anymore."_

"_I'm sorry."_

Piper sank to the floor, tears suddenly forming in her eyes. This was wrong. All of it was wrong! She didn't want to believe that any of it was true. It hurt too much! It hurt her like nothing had ever hurt her since Prue had died. First she lost Leo. Then she was faced with the awful realization that in the future her son was evil. And now! The one boy she had grown to resent, possibly even hate, was growing inside her very womb!

The tears poured down her face. She wept alone as she gripped an understanding of everything that had happened in the last year. And she hated it. She hated all of it. It was not supposed to be like this!

The sun was setting outside. Golden light poured through windows, some of which were stained glass. Piper lay curled up on the floor, and her arms wrapped around her stomach as she tried holding back her full-blown rage.

"Why did you leave me here?" she whispered through her tears. She looked up at the ceiling. _I wish Prue were here. Or mom. Or God, even Grams! I can't be the oldest one right now!_ "Did I do something wrong? Am I being punished for something?" She sat up, her arms still wrapped around herself as if that could bring her comfort.

"I have done so much good in this world," she reminded whoever might be listening. "How many lives have I helped save? All I want in return is just an ordinary family. Is that so much to ask? I want a husband to help me raise my son! I don't want to have to stand the thought of that son turning evil! And I certainly don't want to deal with a mistake!"

The light pouring through the windows and reflecting on the walls suddenly shifted towards her. Bathed in that glow, a warmth unexpectedly passed through Piper. It was physical warmth, for in her heart, she still felt cold. But then that warmth changed, still physically. It felt like something inside of her, but it did not belong to her.

Piper trembled and glanced down at her stomach. The warmth was starting to focus around there. It was no longer from the outside sunlight. It was generating inside her. Piper had never in her life felt anything like this before. Not even when she was pregnant with Wyatt.

She let out a short gasp as the feeling intensified. It flowed through her very being. There was something inside of her that was magical. She could sense it. It was so new and so fresh. And it was growing. And it was alive. There was life growing inside her, and it was precious and miraculous and filled with the purest form of magic.

_My baby? My Chris?_ Piper thought about that for a moment. She spoke the words out loud. "My Chris? Chris is mine? He belongs to me...?" And to Leo. And even to Wyatt and her sisters on some level. But the important thing was something incredible was growing inside her and that something was Chris!

She choked slightly as a small laugh made its way out of her. She was going to have another baby! Leo had given her another child! Not a mistake... just a surprise. A gift. And despite whatever hell the future held, she could feel joy inside her. Whether it came from her own heart or from the heart of the baby, she couldn't tell, but it most certainly was there. There was nothing wrong with it. For it was a part of her. It was inside her. For the moment, it was her.

"_Piper, you can't give up on love. Ever."_

"_Look, the only thing that matters right now is what's best for Wyatt."_

"_This is not what's best for Wyatt, Piper."_

"_Maybe this is one of the things that needs to be changed."_

"_No it's not. Believe me, it's not."_

Piper looked out the window towards the setting sun. So Chris was capable of showing human emotions. He did care about what happened to her, and not just Wyatt. She had forgotten that.

Piper softly caressed her lower chest. She could sense him inside her. She could feel him. So perfect. Piper forgot the resent she felt for the future Chris, because her heart was filling with love for this child within her. And she would take comfort knowing that this child's future would be different from the future Chris had lived in. She would see to that.

Piper stood and walked towards a window. She looked outside, and the world for once seemed peaceful. She looked towards the sky, and saw how serene the universe was as the earth continued to move forward. She couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you for this gift."

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End file.
